Because I'm Only Part Whole
by OtakWho
Summary: It wasn't that I meant to shut people out. Or come off as odd to others. I was looking after myself... Could you blame me? I thought I was on the right track, doing the right thing, move ahead but I wasn't. And now, I think that I'm so far down from where I hoped to be that pushing through seem senseless-well, not alone anyway... And now I may gain more than I ever bargained for.
1. Letter

**It's back! It's been 4 months but it feels like a life time… So~ I am remaking BIOPW. Thanks for over 100 favorites!**

** Seeing that it was my first fanfiction idea that's amazing (though I never got to the big "OMG" moment) A special thanks to anyone who reviewed the story! You all get a virtual cookie! To new comers, cookies to anyone who reviews!**

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><p>I watched as the sun rose slowly. Its light gradually reached out to every building in East City. The skies turned to an array of reds and yellow and the sound of cars begin.<p>

Turning back to the thick alchemy book in front of me, the little sunlight that found its way into the room aided me to see the book.

Muttering the words as I read, I draw the leather book to my face. "_...draw the moisture from the air into the desired shape and release the heat within and around the area..."_ I read drawing the circle shown in the book in the air as I tried to remember it.

Learning some meteorological alchemy may come in handy some day. The storage closet wasn't my idea of a break.

In fact, I wasn't supposed to be here. But the idea for hanging around in Mustang's office as Hawkeye threatens him to do his work or 'else,' is slightly frightening.

I hear the door wiggle slightly. I freeze knowing if I move the noise will be too oblivious. The door cracks open revealing an inch width of light. Tips of blond and orange hair were easily stopped. My head swimming with thoughts as I watch the door open revealing both Jean Havoc and Hayman Breda.

The irritated look on their face made me think that my days of slacking off were over. "What is this? The 5th time we caught you reading in the closet this week?" Jean asked Breda as he nods.

The chubby man confronts me and swiftly grabbed hold of my right arm. I groaned but didn't resist, consider his higher up in the ranks. Havoc took my left arm and together they dragged me out the closet into the hall. They towed me back into Mustang's office.

That office is a mess. I've only been working there for what? 4 weeks? Yes, that's it, only about a month. And I've seen enough chaos. We, as in Havoc, Breda, Fuery and I, do most of the paper work while the Colonel spends his time cleaning than writing his signature on a couple of papers. They plop me on the chair and in my view I see a large stack on papers. Groaning, I reach for a pen and begin to read one hand written note:

_To Lance Corporal Akiya,_

_I, Private Clara Helen, request your permission. As part of research I ask you to authorize me to search your files-_

I crumpled up the page and stuff it in my pocket. Hell to the no I was giving her my information. That would get people curious about me. I watched Hawkeye wipe her gun with a wet rag. Although she probably wasn't planning to shoot anyone, everyone seemed to steer them selves away from her. She rubbed the wet rag over the shotgun reaching every nook and cranny.

The pile of papers still needed to be done but it was mostly asking permission to look through file. Considering I was such a low rank- a lance Corporal- I didn't have anything very exciting.

Hawkeye lifted the gun before I could react and pulled the trigger. The bullet fired out letting out a possibly deafening sound and seems to go place me in slow motion. Twisting my head to follow the tiny projectile, I noticed it was headed to the Colonel.

It hit the wall centimeters from touching him. He froze in mid-cleaning as everyone fell silent. The mouth of the gun was steaming.

"Start working." She threatened. Figures... She let him slack off for three hours straight. He frantically raced back to his desk and began to scribble on the closest paper. I wanted to run. Leave the room. Want kind of place is this? Falman tried to pick out the bullet from the wall. "Corporal," He gets my attention. "Can to fix the wall?"

Nodding slightly I stand up and approached the cavity. Pulling the light gray gloves with a thin hand sewn transmutation circle, I fix the hole in a matter of seconds. The only signs of it ever being pierced were tiny transmutation marks that cover the area.

After roughly inspecting the work, I saw it as a job well done and faced Warren Officer for approval. Instead of a simple nod, he throws a book sized envelope. Frantically, I caught the paper. The gold and silver rims glistened and instantly I knew what it was; a promotion letter. Shock of excitement hit me as I studied the out in glee.

"For Private Naomi White…" My voice trails off as I realize it wasn't for me.  
>"Get that to her why don't you?" Falman says. I stared blankly at the envelope before heading out the room. At this rate, becoming a major—or higher—was far from impossible.<p>

With my goal so far at reach, I wonder if I'll receive what I'm missing. In fact, I wanted to be in Central, not Eastern. To make it clear I was sent to Eastern Command after three weeks in Central. In exchange for the transfer, I obtain my present rank.

I wander the halls looking for the Naomi person as I hear clanking come from the corner.

"Al, stop running before you-!"

I watch a silver object take the sharp turn in my direction and the rest you can figure out. Falling backwards, I stubble and hit the ground with a bang. Cursing, I rub my head to see if anything was damaged.

Towards the middle of my head—the area of the impact—my finger seem sank in. Covering it protectively, I turn to the cause of the injury. My eyes wide a fraction of an inch as I peer at the large armor that was franticly bowing in apology. "I'm sorry!" He says in an odd kiddy voice. "I was being careless! I-"

_Meow!_

I stared blankly as the armor stiffened at the sound an animal. "Was that a… cat?" I asked getting up, hand still covering the back of my head. I leaned to the side to see if a cat was somewhere behind. Oddly, nothing was there. At that moment, a boy with golden hair and a red coat skid over and began to argue with the armor.

Standing out of place, I could help but watch the two quarrel. The kid was short with blondish gold hair. He wore all black except for an ankle long red cloak. "YOU CAN'T KEEP STEALING CATS!"

"I'M NOT STEALING HIM! I RESCUED HIM! AND IT'S A KITTEN!" The armor retorted.

"DOES _THAT_ MATTER?"

The two argued as I stood dumbfounded debating if I should say anything. And even that, they were allowing here. I pressed my hand against the back of my head. I couldn't stay. Not without being found out. Silently, I slipped though the hall in search for the dorms.

At one point, I became impatient with my jogging pace and began to sprint. Take a few shape turns, I reached the dorm. With the door slammed and locked, I headed for the empty bathroom. Using two mirrors—one hand mirror, I was enable to examine the banged up area. At the sight of it I cursed. The back of my head was flatter then the floor I hit it on…

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><p><strong>Hope this gave you some kind of idea of who (or what) Akiya is… I'm trying to start to do foreshadowing so look for that later on… :3<strong>

**Ed and Al popped up for a split second cohoohoo!**

**I know some read most of the story already but don't be a spoiler (that's my job!)**

**Please tell me about any mistakes grammar wise. I did improve my writing skills, I think...  
><strong>

**And again I like to thank the over 100 favorites for BIOPW (this is after I deleted half my emails too)! I'll try to make the remake clearer, exciting, and heart-stopping! *Bows***

**~_Chelsea A. Garvey_**


	2. Phone

**Chapter 2 is here! Ya... You welcome...**

**The really story begins here...  
><strong>

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><p>Placing the black phone over my ear, I dial the number. As the phone connected to the opposite phone I thought back about what happened thirty minutes. The flattened area could easily be fixed by me but the effects of transmutation with made it thinner and weaker.<p>

Sighing in complete self pity, I heard a voice say, "Hello, Cane Family Automail and Metal." It was a premature girly voice but it almost seemed like she was trying acted grown.

"Hey Florence," I greet. "It's me.."

She seemed some what excited at my voice. "Akiya? I've been waiting on your call! So have you decided to pay in advance? 'Cause I can-." She stopped in mid-sentence as an older voice filled the background with yelling. They argued as I stood patiently until someone realized I was still on the phone.

At last, the aged male voice came up. Jason. "Sorry, Florence has been acting crazy for money lately." I gave an awkward laugh as Jason explained how odd she's been for the pass three weeks. "She's been nagging me that I need to work harder on the automail. It's really been bugging me. Then she is telling Dad to use cheaper metal on the older customer because they don't move as much."

"Well, maybe you need to teach her to make automail." I laugh. We both knew Florence only like the mathematical aspect of the business. In fact, I've never seen she touch automail.

Jason and I chatted for a couple of minutes before I told him about my head. "It's flatter than the floor," I say. He hummed in thought.

"Well," He starts, "Fix it."

I am relieved that I didn't have to go to his place in the outskirt of Rush Valley to get it repaired. Seeing that would waste a truck load of time. I feel the urge to press on the conversation. "So, how's that puppet going?" I asked hoping it's done. I hear a sigh from him as begin if I said something wrong.

"God, that's going painfully slow… I'm stuck on the face."

I nod to myself and try not to push the chat any farther. "I got to go, have some work to do in the _office_." I say making the word "office" seem terrible as possible. I hear a chuckle and he said his good-byes the same way he always did. "What's your name?"

I would give a pause and hang up. And that's was it.

Fixing the dent wasn't hard. After inspecting my work with alchemy in the mirror, I gave myself a nod of approval and left my dorm. Walking back to the office, I realized something was missing. Thinking back, I almost screamed. The promotion letter for Mammy—Ninny—or whatever it was for!

Racing down the hall, I barge into the office to find something odd. In the office wasn't just Mustang but the kid and armor too…

**Edward's POV**

I stared at the pale, dark haired girl glance uneasy at Al and I. Her dark blue eyes shifted back and forth in a way that made them look somewhat fake. "It's her," Al says directly to me. But nothing rings; this was a person I've never met before. I turned to Mustang excepting some kind of explanation.

"That's Lance Corporal Cane" He says in monotone. I simple answer that doesn't answer anything. The corporal entered looking somewhat uneasy looking at every piece of furniture. Her eyes stopped at me at my lap where the large envelope sat.

"That belongs to me," She says hasty. I did catch some attitude in her voice. I picked the envelope and read who it's addressed too. "Naomi White…" I recite plainly. "Thought, Mustang said your name was Cane not White."

She swiftly grabs the papered message out my hand but her hand hits my two finger of my left hand. Quickly, I pull them back as a throbbing pain torments my hand. She seems to be conscious of her action and pulls back.

"Colonel, who are they?" She asks Mustang but her attention is focus on Al. Mustang raises his eyebrow and smirks. "You don't know? He's the Fullmetal Alchemist."

I turn back to the girl and grinned with proud, "Nice to meet you."

**Akiya's POV**

Speechless, just speechless. No words. I'm shock to find the prodigy state alchemist is so… so tiny! And to top, there's the armor kid next to him. There was something up about him and I knew what it was… I shook the idea out my head to give an unwanted smile to the brat. "Pleasure to meet you, Major Elric," I say as I tuck the promotion letter under my arm. "Sorry if I gave any trouble with the letter. It won't happen again."

He snorted and hand gestured me to leave. "Well, whatever."

I headed for the door when I caught one word that interested me:

"Bio-Alchemy."

My finger came to a halt at the door. Curiosity gnaws at me as I turn my head to Mustang once more. "Biological… Alchemy?" I ask loud enough for him to hear.

Mustang looks up at me and smirks. "That's right; you study bio-alchemy…" He answers which surprises me that he knew. Nodding, I moved to his left side to view the file in hand.

"Shou Tucker…" I read out loud to myself. Mustang shows the file to Major Elric.

"Yeah, that's him, the Sewing-Life Alchemist"

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><p><strong>See the review button? Its really a portal to Narnia... Don't believe me? Click it.<strong>


	3. Curiousity

**Hey! Sorry I'm late. I kinda got side tracked by some stuff at school. But its here lol… ^^**

**Disclaimer: I'm not that brilliant to make such a wondrous series and frankly, neither are all of you so stop hating when people don't write disclaimers okay? We all are aware we can't be Hiromu Arakawa and you aren't either, so we you stressing? You needa calm down and eat a bean!**

**Now that's done here it is XD**

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><p>I stare of the window and watch as the tree rush by. Rowed houses show colorful flowers and stone. I watch each one carefully studying their petal and determining if they either monocots or dicots. The game easily got me discouraged after the military car zipped by a garden filled before I could register the color of the flowers. Flustered, I still competed in my little game.<p>

"…The Sewing Life Alchemist. He specializes in chimeras and the field of bio-alchemy. He got his state certification by creating a chimera that knows the human tongue."

My head turns to Mustang in surprise. I wasn't listening much until that excerpt some how crawled in my attention.

"Wait, you mean it can talk!" Edward asked astonished.

"Yes, but it only said one thing: 'I want to die,' Then it stopped eating and got its wish." My excitement ends. Such an evolutionary outbreak in science was gone because of suicide. "The two species must have an extreme amount of mental capacity to be able to speak something that complex… Then there is to matter of the vocal cords." I thought out loud. My thought swarmed over the idea of a talking chimera as the car pulled to a complete stop.

"Wow, this place is huge." Edward stated his gazed toward the large structure that was apparently Shou's home. I mentally agreed with Fullmetal, not wanting to agree verbally to the brat in any way. He jogged to the door as a large snow white dog ran in the same direction. A small smiled cracks as all over the events play out. The dog leaps. Fullmetal stopping to look up. And my favorite part, the impact.

A girl—about 5 or so—opened the front door and a smile appeared on her face. "Daddy! There's person outside!"

"Nina," A masculine voice nagged. "I thought I told you to tie up the dog." A tall skinny man with light brown hair that matched up with the girl's peek outside.

'_Shou Tucker,'_ I noted.

Inside was completely different than the fresh cut lawn outside. The place was more like an over flowing fountain of trash. The sink was piled with dishes to the point the sink was no long in sight. Mr. Tucker apologized for the mess and sets up down at a surprising clean dining table.

He sets steaming black tea in front of each of us, sits himself down and asks us why we are here. "These two are interested in the field of biological alchemy. They would like to have a look at your research if that's possible," Mustang tells Tucker.

"Oh yes certainly I don't mind."

A smile comes across my face and I noticed the Fullmetal too was excited.

"However."

I drop my shoulders and turn back to Mr. Tucker. His glasses glare from the sun through the window made it impossible to read his eyes.

"If you want me to show you the tricks I've got up my sleeve it's only fair you show me the tricks you've got up yours as well," Shou say push his glasses back to the bridge of his nose. I mentally cursed and glared into Shou's eyes but no matter how I tried, I couldn't get pass the glass. "It's the code we live by, equivalent exchange. Now, why are you interested in bio-alchemy?"

"Well, you see—" Mustang start but Edward cuts him off. I turn to Ed to catch him slightly glance at me with what seemed to be cold eyes. But after the split second contact, his eyes look down so low it seems almost shut.

"You transmuted your mother as an eleven year old child? I see that's what earned you the title Fullmetal. You've had a rough time of it for someone so young." Shou summarizes as Edward showed him his metal arm.

"And you are…?" I jump at the sudden shift to me in discourse. I fumble with my hands under the table as I answer.

"Um… I want to help others using alchemy…" I cover myself with a weak lie. I lecture myself for it become anyone common sense can figure out it was an utter lie.

Edward glares at me waiting for a real answer and so it Shou. Stubbornly, I accept Shou's challenge and eventually he drops the whole. "I don't know if it will be of any use to you, but why don't you take a look at my laboratory."

_GRRROAR!_

I step back as an animal of some sort gnaws at the steel metal bars. The holding area was filled with wild creatures I couldn't identify.

"It's kind of embarrassing. I'm widely regarded as an authority on chimeras but the truth is it hasn't actually been going that well lately." Shou says lowly. He leads us to a large dark room and flips the light. "This is my library feel free to look around."

Before my eyes held shelves of books. I marveled at the collection when Edward pushed through to reach the first book he laid his eyes. "All right let's dive in, I'll start with this shelf." Edward claimed excitedly.

"I'll start over here." Alphonse informed him in.

I wandered to the back of the room in search for handwritten notes from Tucker. Maybe I'm just natural curious but I needed to know how he did it. And asking him didn't seem to be the better if I could figure it out myself.

'_A talking chimera…'_ I think. _'Is that even possible for one man to make?'_

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><p><strong>And that's it for now. And I placed some biology it the mix to show that Akiya knows what she's talking about! XD<strong>

**BTW Check Out my pixel art on Akiya! http :/thefeverthatkilled .deviantart. com /gallery /#/d4evfqh (Without the spaces)**


	4. Discovered

**Sorry for such a late update… a lot has happened lately and I didn't have much time to post it. But I'm going to get back in to it. By the way, this isn't an Ed X OC fic because I:**

**1) Hate OCC-ness (from Ed and Roy the most)**

**2) Romance makes me awkward**

**3) EdWin is epic. Ed needs someone to worry about him as Ed needs someone to protect… TAKE THAT ANTI-WINRY GROUP!**

**4) Don't like how every OC just know the right thing to say to Ed like, "Committing the taboo wasn't your fault…you couldn't have known."**

**Why can't they say something of opinion that makes him worst like, "To be honest, in a way it is your fault."**

**Enough ranting from me. I don't own Fma.**

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><p>I was frustrated. My curiosity for the talking chimera seemed to devour all other motives for visiting the Tucker residents. And even after all this, the fact remain that not even a single collection of notes held the anything related to the outcome of the topic.<p>

I cursed under my breath slamming another useless book closed. This one had spent the first 78 pages talking about the double helix—which, I had already known. With a sigh, I lifted myself up and belief looked through another shelf of books.

Unfortunately, this shelf didn't catch my attention as much as the other twenties of shelves I've search. My last tolerance had flown out the window and I wasn't going to attempt to catch it. I had two plans choices: Ask Mr. Tucker about the subject myself or leave and pretend that my curiosity wasn't slowly eating me away? First plan took the win.

Placing the leather book into an open slot in the shelf, I headed toward the area the State Alchemist and his Brother was.

State Alchemist… him? He—of all people managed to get such a high respected title. Where as I was struggling to get promoted from Corporal, it made me feel pathetic. I believe I was doing everything that was advised for other officers; stay quiet and do as instructed. Then maybe my work could be recognized and reward. If that was the case, I guess my work must be pretty bad because I feel as though Equivalent Exchange hasn't been working for me.

I found Edward sitting on the floor, head first in a thick book. He murmured questioned to himself as he read along. His blonde hair covered his eyes from my angle so I almost believe he was talking in his sleep.

To be honest, the most irritable thing about him being a certified State Alchemist was the fact he was so short. I will admit, I'm tall, but it's the fact that if I was to stand behind him I could see over his head and have to look down to look him in the eye

"Major," I said, trying to be as formal I as I could. "I'll like you to know I'll be addressing Mr. Tucker and will be taking my leave."

"Uh huh," He hummed, his head not once lifting up.

'_Uh Huh?'_ I thought. I passed it off as a quick answer so I could leave him alone and I did exactly that.

Exiting the Library, I searched the large house for Shou. The place was extremely confusing, let me say. Each room led to another room of mass destruction. The Kitchen. The Living room. The halls itself all held a mess of dirty clothing, toys and loss papers. And maneuvering around these obstacles was a challenge of its self.

At long last, I spot Shou leave a room with an inhuman amount of books stacked up. I sighed in relief after the long and annoying searched.

"Mr. Tucker?" I call to him. He jumps and looks my way. I caught the weary look in his eye as if he's been getting no rest for days. Approaching him I asked if he needed any help with the book him was carrying. The hesitation he showed made me curious but he gave me a good half of the books. I followed him to where ever he was going.

"I wonder why you're not reading with your friends in the library." He says. It wasn't a question but I felt that I need to answer.

"They're not my friends. In fact, I just met them today."

He hums in responds and walks around a large pile of clothes in the hall. "They are something, aren't they?"

"What?" I asked confused by what he said.

"The Fullmetal and his brother. To commit the taboo, joining the military—"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, remember the conversation that we had hours ago. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course, you're an interesting character yourself." He said stopping at the final door in the hall. Shou reaches into his pocket and rummages for a key. Nervous about where he was going with the discourse, I try to keep it going. "How so?"

"Well, for one thing," he begins as he unlocks the door with a single key. "You lied terribly during our last discussion. That is enough to cause _some_ curiosity."

I glared at the back of him. Studying every detail of his short light brown hair, I cursed. He was curious? Had I been too careless?

_Of course I've been. _I scolded myself. _Now I have to fix it._

"I meant every word I said back then." I said giving a determined look. "To protect the innocent and hold justice in this country. To use alchemy to help people and not hurt them. Are you really saying that all that I stand for and believe in is nothing but a lie? I would be sick if that was the case! Or is it you don't believe I can achieve it? Well, if you are rethink it. I will do it!" I lie for what all I'm worth.

Shou side-glanced me and smirked. "Note to self, Akiya Cane talks a lot when she is lying."

I suppress the urge to kill him. It was agitated me how he was so observant. So what I apparently blabbered on when I lied? Shou made me nervous, what was he thinking? I had to know.

He turns the knob and opens it. "Here is my private study."

I notice that the door was the entrance stair the lead into complete darkness. I grip the books and nod. "Watch you step please." He warns me as he takes his time down the stairs and disappears in the darkness.

Descending down the stairs, I tried to make out what's in front of me. Nothing. "Mr. Tucker? Can you turn on some light?" There was no answer which crept me out.

I must have lost my footing somehow. Books flew out me hand as I fall down the stairs. The fact that I couldn't see anything made it worst.

The next I see is the ceiling. Relieved that this meant the lights were on, I turned to the source of it. Sitting of a single desk held a lamp with stacked books on it. Shou rushed over. "That was a big fall," He states pointing to the stairs. I sit up and follow his finger at a see that I had fallen three quarters of the flight down. "I see…" I murmured. "But I'm fine."

He cocks an eyebrow and studies my face. "The stairs were concrete. You shouldn't be."

My eye widened. Was he going to piece everything together? "I guess I was lucky. Not everyone is that fortunate-!"

He grips my black hair and slams it into the bottom step. A sharp metallic bang rings throughout the room. I shake off my total shock and glare at Shou and in a threatening voice I say: "Ouch. That hurt."

The look on his face was deep in thought. He grips my hand and contracts it. He let go and stood up. "Not it didn't, did it? It can't hurt you. You really have a lot of people fooled." He said. I study him. He's glasses glare blocking his eye and a slight smile on his face. I listen to every word that comes out his mouth. But the one the got me the most, raided my mind as if destroying every other thoughts. The one I feared the most.

"I know what you are…"

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger? Maybe… This is where the old BIOPW differs from the new one. Here after the whole Nina thing, Akiya is going to weave in and out the story line. <strong>

**Review for the love of Leto.**


	5. Cornered

**Sorry you guys! It seems I just can't set a good updating day. But I had a bad case of the Author Block in the beginning. I just couldn't find the right way to start it off. But I think I did it pretty well.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA**

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><p>What do I do now? How is this going to affect me? To be honest, I have no idea. For the first time since I joined the military I felt cornered. Like a wall was blocking my way. And no matter how hard I pushed it wouldn't fall. I found myself so focus on what Shou Tucker would do that I fell back on my work.<p>

It was as though everything I plan all relied on what he did. If he kept it to himself I could go on like nothing was wrong but if he told… There was no telling what may happen.

"Akiya?" Fuery called for my attention. The petite man had a worried look on his face. I smile and nod to tell him I'm paying attention. He asks if I was okay and I answer with a quick "Yeah."

He didn't seem fully convinced but it was enough for him to shrugs it off. "Can you take these papers to the 4th filing room?" He pushes his glasses back to the bridge of his nose and points to a stack of papers sitting on the table. "They're all signed and ready to be sent."

"I'll get right on it." I answered as I get up from my chair and pick up the pile in one hand.

Exiting the room, I maneuver my way through Eastern Command. And once again, Shou Tucker crawled into my mind. It had been two days since my first and last visit to the residence. My thoughts switched to the Fullmetal and his brother.

_They attempted the taboo, Human Transmutation._ I thought as I took a turn down the main hall. As a student of alchemy mainly focused on bio-alchemy, this term has came up several time. Although, It never cross my mind that people would try something like that. It was like ripping off a caution line and running straight into the fire.

Nevertheless, I did have no right to judge that since I barely even knew them. And yet, I think about the tower giant of a brother, Alphonse.

How unfortunate. I feel somewhat lucky.

Thud!

Stumbling back, I watch as the paperwork I was hold flutters down and spread themselves across the floor. "Aw shit," I murmured after regaining my balance and peering down at the mess.

"I'm so sorry!" A raspy voice called. Looking up I see the woman I had bumped into. She was an old woman in her late sixties. Gray hair was tied into a tight bun but stray brown strands of hair poke up every here and there. Wrinkles cover her face and her nose unusually was bent to one side. She wasn't the prettiest person to smile at but I manage one.

She studied my uniform and her face brightened. Yes, I know what made her react that way. My shoulders. "One stripe? One stripe!" The woman pulled in closer make me step back in defense. "You're a Lance Corporal like me. That means we're equals! I'm Naomi White. What's yours? Wow, you look young!" She rambled on. I did try to answer some but I was interrupted by another question.

_Naomi White… Oh!_

"By any chance did you just recently receive your ranking?" I asked bending down to pick up a hand full of paper. She joined me by picking the papers closest to her.

"Matter of fact, yes, just two days ago," She says with a smile. "I was happy… 43 years of service really can take its toll but the promotion was such a relief."

I hummed in response. This woman had sent most of her adult life devoted to the military before ever being recognized for her work and by looking at her, she had only a couple more years until retirement.

This was not good on my part. In my head, I briefly run over the rankings:

_Military Police._

_Private._

_Lance Corporal, me._

Once the papers were complete collect, Naomi passed it to me. "Good day… um_—_?"

"Akiya, Nice to meet you."

She grins ear to ear. "Well then, good day, Akiya. Hope to see you in the future." With that she disappears down the hall, leaving me alone. I place my pulled back hair over my shoulder and continue to walk.

The weather. It's been gloomy all day. Almost depressing, really. The sky showed neither blue nor sun. Not a single ray of light could touch the earth while thick storm cloud loam. Finally, the clouds opened up to the rain. And the sound of the pounding water fills the air.

…

By the time I return to Mustang's office it was empty. I figure that some last minute must have happened for him because of his work chair wasn't push in and his documents were still all opened. Whatever the case was, it must have been pretty important for everyone to be gone in the mere twenty minutes I had been out the room.

Taking the time to my advantage, I finished off the paperwork I was behind on. One had asked for permission to look through the Lance Corporal ranked report over the passed year. Others had requested arms.

That had thrown me off because I'm not qualified to take an armed supplies unless I file a request myself, and the process was a long one. Setting the request aside with the intention to send them back as a misunderstanding, I wait for any superior from the Colonel's unit to return.

No such luck. After about an hour and a half, I grew bored and decide I would retreat for the day. Clearing out my area, I exited the room and headed to the Dorm Department.

…

Ever had those days when it seems that the whole world had been keep a secret from you? Everyone seems to ignore you entirely. And no matter how much you demand an answer the odd behavior it only results in cold shoulders. Well "those days" were today.

When I came in to work that day, officers were in and out of office. Mustang was sitting at his desk accepting paper after paper they were giving him. He read over them swiftly and tried to take notes at the same time.

"What going on?" I asked Breda across the table from me. He stares at me and sighs. "The colonel's been up since yesterday afternoon working on a case that…" He searched for the right term. "Blew up in his face."

I study Breda. Its nebulous there was something he wasn't saying. But the one thing that threw me off was the last part. "Do you mean that literally or metaphorically?"

It was an honest question when talking about the Flame Alchemist.

Breda shrugs. "Hey, I'm not the person you want to talk to. If you want to know, go as the man yourself."

I don't answer but take his simple advice.

I approached the desk and even before I addressed him he cut me off. "He's dead."

Taken back by the word and tried to make sure I had listen to him right. "What, sir?"

This time he looks up for his work. "Three days ago you visited the Tucker residence along with Fullmetal. However, you decided to pass on the offer to return the next day, seeing you came in for work. Why?"

I don't answer. Just my mind finally drifts away the name "Tucker," it seems to always find it's was back. Was this it? Did he tell? Mustang studies my hesitation for a moment but returns to his papers.

Hawkeye opens the office "Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes wants to talk."

Mustang stood, ignores me and tells Hawkeye to tell him he'd be there soon.

What was he talking about? Who's died? I review what he said.

I whipped toward the Colonel who was almost out the door. "Who's is died!" I shout forgetting any politeness and respect. Yes, they were gone. Just too much was in my head to remember such manners. Patience was vanished as well, and I never felt more relieved.

Mustang stopped and side-glances me with narrowed eyes, "For you're sake, I'd fix that attitude."

"Well? Who died?" I asked sharply, ignoring his advice. He reaches for his pocket watch, the same one that proves he was a state alchemist and checks the time. He seems to take his own sweet time leaving me to stand there like an idiot.

When I think he wouldn't tell me, he finally speaks up. "Last night it was discovered that Shou Tucker, and his daughter was murdered." With that he left.

Ever had those days when it seems that the whole world had been keep a secret from you? And no matter how much you demand an answer the odd behavior it only results in cold shoulders.

But when you final find the answer, you wish you never been told? That you kept quiet like they all told you and minded your own business?

Yeah, me too. And this was that day.

* * *

><p><strong>I think I ended that at a good spot. I was going to write more but I didn't want to screw up a cliffhanger that keeps you thinking. Did you see that? Character Development! Little Akiya may stop being such a kiss up! Thank goodness too… It was weird to write a character like that. Ed and Al wanted to say something:<strong>

**Ed and Al: Review and you get a chance to win a kitty!**

**Al: SAVE THE KITTENS!**


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